Resouled

In the week that saw Rubber Soul return to top the lp charts amazingly and reviewed on the other blog going back to the era where we first had the Beatles on cd, something else got bought then but as forward looking as we saw ourselves those were on cd.

Michelle Antoinette Wallen MBE was born  on 27 April 1969 but is better known professionally as Mica Paris is a British singer, presenter, and actress and as a fan of soul music it wasn't before I got to hear just what her voice had to offer.

Her debut album, So Good, was released in 1988, spawning the singles "My One Temptation" and "Where Is the Love" which like anything by a new artist then was bought on cd as I felt at the the time much of my vinyl would go and didn't wish to start new sub collections in it.

You might say in 2026 so much for that!

 She has since gone on to release seven further albums

Contribution came out in 1990 and again that was bought on cd although the original cd suffered from "cd rot" and ended up being replaced.

This album extended her soul and gospel influences to bring in hip-hop and house music and featured the track "Contribution" (No. 33), "South of the River" (No. 50) and "If I Love U 2 Nite", (No.43) written by Prince and recorded at his Paisley Park studios.

In the UK this was a long 65 minute 14 track album even on vinyl while North American versions  made do with just 11 tracks outside of special limited import versions of the lp and the cd in a "long box".

Phillysoul and especially the Philadelphia International Records label was a massive thing with me from the early 70's onwards but while I had this compilation on cd, that cd as good as it is saw light in lp form in 1973.

The record was issued here a year later in 1974 and so gain two most desirable tracks, I'll Always Love My Mama (Part 1) and (Win, Place or Show) She's A Winner, both UK singles hits that year making this version more complete in addition to the original 12.

I was able to get a copy locally quite cheaply in mint condition.

Unlike in 1988 when I felt vinyl was on its way out and even being prepared to jettison chunks of it for shiny cds we're selectively adding titles that we enjoyed back then in that format. 

Warm playing

 Well Agnes came over Wednesday night and into Thursday but while there was some damage further north such as a tree coming down at Greenbank near Hartford, Cheshire on the Crewe-Chester rail line, it was really a damp squid here with just a bit of a breeze.

Overall this month has been quite pleasant, not quite "Indian Summer" so you've been able to be out in short sleeves and bare legs gently exploring areas, losing sense of time as you become engaged in what is around you.

There are signs that Fall is due if you look closely in the woods and green spaces that thankfully we have around this area as built up as it is even though I saw Ladybirds this week about and his nutkins was spotted about.

On thing that did happen that wasn't expected was the stylus on my record deck met with a disaster where I went to pick the whole cartridge up to change as (you just screw in others) where somehow the plastic protective cap fell off and got caught in a soft towel that resulted in it becoming bent and probably chipped.

Thus the credit card had to come out to buy a replacement which wasn't cheap and then slot it on the cartridge to restore record playing of modern records in great shape while I has a another for older discs not least vintage singles.

Stylus options

Strangely enough there hasn't been much mention on this blog about records as in playing them apart from one from around 2013 which mentioned my then current turntable and the device that takes  the low output of your cartridge which tracks the groove to convert that to something that comes out of your amplifier and speakers.

These days a Marantz direct drive turntable used used with Ortofon Concorde SME bayonet twist and lock cartridges for all record playing duties being easy to replace the stylus - the bit that goes in the groove wall - when they wear out.

 

Basically it's the same internally as the regular screw in the headshell version and you would adjust the height so it sits correctly for the best sound.

Like a few people I tend to have a number about because the sharp bit that goes in the groove comes with a variety of different options such as models for mono lps made before the late nineteen sixties when stereo lathes were used to cut all regular records because the groove wall was wider.

You can get less noise on such a record if well played by using a wider tip.

Ever since the advent of stereo discs hifi as a hobby had taken off the battle was always about getting the most information from  from the groove so we moved from broadly speaking rounded tips to tips of an elliptical nature to go further down into the groove and more closely follow what was cut.

Generally that means the highest notes can be better reproduced because the stylus is more able to trace them which is fed into the generator system of the cartridge  and often this is a great thing on newer, well cared for discs.

Because it does go that much into it, it requires more care in keeping your records clean to avoid hearing any pops and ticks.

 

That is one reason perversely I did get a traditional spherical stylus for playing records that while not be scratched had been played on less exacting equipment such as the record player I had when I was young.

The Ortofon 5S is a high quality spherical stylus that tracks at a lower weight around 1.75 grams so it won't wear records but because it sits up in the groove a bit more tends to play those singles better for not seeing the slight wear.

It is offered in starter turntables with a cartridge because it does offer much better sound than many disco type models and causes little wear for little expense while allowing if a person chooses to fit more exacting styli just by pushing off the fitted one and adding a replacement.

Mr Hifi Bore apart from having issues with normal type I tapes and Mp3's often railed at such stylus's but actually not a few very high quality moving coil cartridges did come with spherical tips and were highly regarded.

I feel provided the stylus is well made, the balance between different types properties is a personal one and some may be prepared to trade a slight loss of the highest notes for quieter surface noise especially on singles and longer albums where the cutting levels tend to be low.

Giving Nipper new teeth

Between Donald Tusk insulting UK politicians which could just be the kerosene to be poured on Brexit with a free match as if we didn't need any more animosity, some good news did emerge on Tuesday regarding one of stories late 2018.

 Canadian record retailer, Sunrise agreed to pay for 100 of HMV UK's stores with closures of 27 least profitable, planning to stock a higher amount of vinyl records which generally have a higher mark up than cds and less at risk from people streaming instead of buying which has been the case with dvd and blu-ray's as much as some such as myself do buy titles that wish to own.
Sunrise in 2017 bought out HMV Canada that was failing and has managed to turn the store group around although like the proposals here, a number were shut in what was a black period for music retail in that country with Sam The Record Man being shut a couple of years before with reduced sales and higher rent charges in places like downtown Toronto.
Great Britain is the second biggest player in popular music and a major one in English language arts in general home of course not just to the vast expanse of London Theatreland but to Pinewood, the UK's Hollywood often use by American owned film companies.
To that extent we absolutely need a shop front for our creative arts where artists can do signings, 'pop up' short performances and places where staff do know and share knowledge about music.
I am and strongly support independent music retailers as until the arrival of HMV in 1992 in this district we had a good number of our own such as the much missed Mike Lloyd Megastores in Stoke City centre, Newcastle under Lyme, Stafford and  Wolverhampton and their encouragement in exploring music set my passion off buying albums.
Most went when firstly supermarkets started selling top sellers off cheaply and then Amazon were selling back catalogue titles for less than they could manage but HMV survived until 2013 and after then  our two branches in Stoke and Wolverhampton still did good business until the recent administration and were where I bought new vinyl albums by bands I liked. 
The staff when I went in twice recently were very friendly, there is something about handling and looking through a rack that's just not the same as going on a web site so I hope this is successful.

Keeping your records clean

As anyone who reads this blog knows music is a big thing with me not least having a actual record collection so I thought I'd post something connected with it.
Anyone who has records know like a cd,  they can get a bit dirty but while you only normally tell if a cd is dirty if say it skips, with a record you may hear crackles or a rustling sound even if it looks clean because while surface may be, the groove the music is stored in, isn't.
So it isn't long before you start looking at how to clean it, often scratching ones head as you see anything that looks like a automobile windscreen wiper to big machines costing several hundred pounds being offered that proper to do it
I have tried many ways to do it, sometimes mixing my own cleaning mixture up but there's a simple kit that just does it and it's inexpensive cos you provide the elbow grease!
The Vinyl Revival cleaning kit available on Amazon and Ebay provides all you actually need in simple box.

You get two spray bottles available in different quantities one being the active cleaning solution that you spray on to the disc and wipe on, the other is a spray to rinse that off taking the dirt and dust away together with any trace of the cleaner, wiping it dry.
Between two to four sprays of each work out fine.
The cleaner doesn't contain any alcohol so doesn't dry or risk damaging through frequent use your records vinyl.

It comes with two cloths, although you buy spares easily, the green one is for putting your record on and the blue one has even thinner micropores for spreading the cleaner and applying after rising it off.
I find this very effective, using it to cure the rustling noise between tracks on my recently acquired Abandoned Luncheonette lp from the early nineteen-seventies leaving sounding quieter than some new records!

Enjoying ones music

Every so often on one site I frequent there remains a lingering thought that a substantial number of its more active users appear obsessed with the pursuit of high fidelity to the point they are no longer enjoying the music.
It's hardly an original observation as Flanders and Swann wrote the great musical satirical piece "A Song of Reproduction" very much around that in the early 1960's  where the tinkering around buildings ones own 'rig' and habitual bashing of commercial equipment was all the range.
In my experience   many people fail to get as good a sound as possible from modest equipment simply because they have not invested the time to set it up properly, using good quality leads, determining the best spot and support for their loudspeakers that move the air within the room used and so on.
Those steps that need not cost much, saving many an audio fan from spending a never ending amount on upgrading when often they've not heard all their existing equipment is capable of.
One often feels like saying, go treat yourself to a new great recording be it on record, cd or high quality download instead of spending hundreds of pounds on what turn out to be sideways changes in hardware.
One thing you soon learn with good equipment regardless of price is, recordings vary wildly in terms of their own quality to which the best good equipment can do is not make reproducing them any worse than they really are and where available, look for the best sounding recordings of your favourite artists and music. 
Unfortunately much new popular music is made much louder with less difference between the softest and loudest passages and some classical recordings have had whole passages seriously edited to perfection losing any real sense of a conductor's own character showing in how a note is performed compared to recordings in the analogue (generally pre-1980's) era so much so that many musicians seek out these older recordings because they sound more like performances with their own character.
In many ways what is sad is it's  that while the wanting to hear music well reproduced that gets people into better sound, they get locked into obsessing over hardware and their specifications so they feel obliged to spend more time thinking about that than simply playing a recording and enjoying it.
When I'm happy with my equipment, as a rule I stick with it until either I become less satisfied or it needs replacing.

Revolving discs

In what might be the final post in the current series I recently changed another part of my stereo system recently.
I'll save the long story of how this system got put together but as far as amplification went I was having problems going loud with my loud speakers with a Tubed power amplifier and control unit (the bit that selects what you play from) so it was replaced by a much powerful solid state integrated one (in plain speak the control unit bit and power amplifier in one unit)  made by Rotel. The thing about this unit was it didn't have an input designed for a record deck to plugged straight in.

Currently it has a Stanton 681EEE cartridge in it and it need something to make its output much bigger and adjust the sound from the cartridge so it matches that the record was cut with (when you cut a record you reduce the low notes and increase the high ones to reduce surface noise and increase playing time). I had such a unit by Hart Electronics but the output was too high causing distortion and even putting reducers in the output leads didn't quite cure it all as I think it was getting a little distorted in its internal circuits.
As it happened Rotel made a unit specifically for my integrated amplifier and a few similar products whose output matched exactly the sort it's input stage was designed for.

 It needless to say is a perfect visual match for my integrated amplifier.

The unit can handle standard Moving magnet as well as dearer Moving Coil cartridges selected using a switch at the rear. Its previous owner was only selling it cos he had another similar unit so it was spare.
After quickly plugging the wires in and connecting the grounding tag on the record deck to a special connector on the unit, I tried a few records I know well. The obvious thing was the loss of a niggling feeling of harshness in the louder passages where the other unit was close to overloading, sweeter high notes and a better sense of where in a stereo mix the different instruments are located in space.
To be honest, had I of planned to have gotten this amplifier first I'd of gotten this unit straightaway.
It makes listening to records old or new ones such as David Bowie's recent The Next Day that I have on vinyl so much more enjoyable.
I did notice a little hum but that's due to a lead in my head-shell being a bit worn having swapped it out for another one so I've ordered a new headshell and will get cartridge remounted to it.

Record buying and me

Today I've been looking though both my pocket notebooks and my published lists on a certain website of all my music purchases so far this year and it's really so amazingly addictive this really is.
There are a lot of reasons why compared to many people I buy so much one being the breadth of my music likes, I don't just care for say one artist or one style and often when I'm into a artist I am also in deep into whole catalogues.
So for instance I have complete 70's and 80's album catalogues by people like David Bowie, Paul McCartney and Abba where many might have perhaps the odd compilation and a favourite studio album.
Another reason I spent so much is because over the years some of the records and especially cd issues of albums were not the best sounding ones, just what either I could find or afford and since joining last year one music site, I have learned a lot about how recordings are put out on record and  cd and critically why it is sometimes I've felt disappointed with how they've sounded.
This had lead me to spend a lot of money on sourcing better replacements both new but increasingly used.
My original buying habits in my teens were more 45 orientated outside of 'evergreens' and albums bought by  family and friends so I've also been discovering the albums or artists where my collections have been historically 45's